Everywhere I Go
by NovaleeNation
Summary: Willow, Tara and Dawn visit Tara's mom's grave on her birthday. Set in between Season 5 and 6.


Her chest rose and fell, strong and steady, yet gentle as a feather. Much like the woman herself. It was still dark in the bedroom, but daylight was beginning to creep through the curtains, casting a golden glow over Tara's sleeping form. Willow reached out her hand, tracing Tara's arm with light touches. _My goddess._ She savored the moments when she awoke before her girlfriend, for she could freely revel in the beautiful presence of her love. Not that she couldn't do that when Tara was awake; but it was different when she was sleeping. Willow enjoyed the look of peace on her face...the utter calm that overtook her entire being. Her beautiful eyes shut, her mouth slightly turned up at the corners, as if she was dreaming of something absolutely wonderful. The stray strands of golden brown hair that seemed to fall perfectly across her face, her gentle breathing blowing the hair softly up with each tiny breath. _So perfect. So magical._ Willow fought the urge to reach out and cup Tara's cheek, and softly caress her soft skin with her thumb. She would be running a definite possibility of waking Tara up. _But,_ she thought with a sly smile to herself, _that wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it?_ Willow quietly moved closer to her, until her face was only a few inches away from Tara's, and reached out with her left hand to touch her cheek. Willow smiled at the contact, and was surprised to see Tara begin to smile as well, moving her right hand up to place it over Willow's. Sparkling blue eyes met shimmering green as Tara opened her eyes.

"Hey." Tara said, giving Willow a groggy half-smile.

"Hey." Willow said softly, lightly pinching the tip of Tara's nose, who in turn took Willow's hand and placed a kiss on it.

"Been up a while?" Tara questioned. She carefully hooked a loose strand of red hair around Willow's ear, before running a thumb over her eyebrow and down around around the frame of her face. _Beautiful._

"Uh...not long, I don't think. I was just, ya know, watching you sleep." Willow pulled Tara closer, so that Tara could rest her head on her chest.

Tara raised an eyebrow. "This seems to have become a regular activity lately for you. Am I that alluring in my slumber?" Tara said, her voice taking on a playful tone.

"Like you wouldn't even believe." Willow sighed.

Tara smiled, intertwining her fingers with Willow's.

"I love you." she said, sighing as she snuggled against Willow's soft flannel pajamas.

The pair stayed that way for awhile, Willow gently stroking Tara's hair while Tara drifted back to sleep. Well, Willow thought she had drifted back to sleep, until Tara slowly sat up.

"Will..." she said quietly, moving to the windows.

She walked over to the drapes, her footsteps soft. She reached her hand out towards the drapes, brushing them aside, allowing warm sunlight to flood into the room. Tara gazed outside, her eyes distant.

"Tara?" Willow said, brows furrowed in slight worry. She stood up to stand next to her girlfriend, placing her hand on the small of her back. "Are you okay?"

A lone tear escaped from Tara's eyes and slid slowly down her smooth cheek. She turned to Willow, her delicate features heavy with sadness. "Today is my mom's birthday."

Willow reached for Tara's hand, holding it tight, infusing love and strength into her touch. She lightly circled Tara's hand with her thumb, as the two looked into the morning sky.

"I miss her." Tara said, her voice just above a whisper.

Willow thought of the pain that Tara was in. She thought of the way Tara talked about her mom...the sparkle in her eye when she looked at old pictures. She wished with all of her heart that she could have met her girlfriend's mom. Tara always said that her mother would have loved Willow, and a part of her had a feeling that Tara's mom could have filled the void that Willow's own mother left in her heart. The world was so cruel to take away such good people. Usually, on this day, they would look through pictures, and Tara would tell old stories. Today Willow had different plans.

"Sweetie?" Willow said gently. "I was thinking. Maybe, today, we could visit your mom?"

Tara looked at her. "You mean, at her burial site?"

Willow smiled gently. "Yeah. I totally understand if you wouldn't want to do that though. Because it might be painful, and I don't want to make yo-"

Tara interrupted her, placing a finger softly on her lips. "I want to. It feels right." Her gaze again drifted to the sky. "I'd like that."

Willow squeezed her hand again.

Tara continued. "I think we should bring Dawn, too. She's family." She paused for a second before going on. "Sometimes...sometimes, I kind of feel like she's ours."

Willow smiled. "Like she's our daughter?"

"Yeah." Tara blushed. "It sounds dumb, I know. But with Buffy gone, you could almost say we're her parents."

The pair was silent for a moment, their thoughts drifting to Buffy. It had been a few months now, but the pain was still fresh. There was a large hole left in everyone's lives where the Slayer had once been, but not a day went by when Willow didn't ask herself "What Would Buffy Do?" She'd be her hero, always.

The door creaked open slowly, as Dawn poked her head inside. "Morning, guys."

Tara smiled sweetly at the girl. "Hey Dawnie. You're up early."

Willow chimed in. "Considering 12:00 pm is your usual wake-up time." She winked at Dawn, gesturing towards the alarm clock that read 7:30 am.

Dawn shrugged, pulling her fuzzy blue bathrobe tighter around herself. "Couldn't really sleep. So I thought I'd come bother you guys." She walked up to the window, Tara reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Anything planned for today? Maybe a movie musical marathon? And Tara can make tea!" Dawn beamed at Willow and Tara, clearly expecting them to agree enthusiastically.

"I-uh," Willow glanced about at Tara before continuing. "We had something else in mind today."

"All right! I'm down for whatever." Dawn said, waiting expectantly.

Tara spoke softly."Well, it's my mom's birthday today. And Willow suggested that we go see her. You know, as a family."

"See her?" Dawn began. "But I thou..." she trailed off. "_Oh._" She said quietly. "That's a good idea.." Dawn looked down, hands in her pockets. Her stomach turned at the thought of visiting a graveyard, the deaths of her sister and mother still fresh in her mind and heart. But more than anything, she wanted to be there for Tara. "There's some beautiful flowers in the backyard. Did your mom like Chrysanthemums? I could gather some!"

"She loved them." Tara smiled at Dawn. "That'd be very sweet of you, Dawn."

"I'll get on that then." Dawn said, happy to be given a task. She made her way out of the room. "_I have this really pretty ribbon I could tie around them too..." _she mumbled to herself as she walked down the hallway.

Willow smiled at Tara. "Sounds like a plan," she said, swinging her and Tara's still intertwined hands lightly.

"I'd say some breakfast is in order then." Tara said, her spirits lifted for the time being.

Willow perked up instantly. "Breakfast? Oh, yes." It was no secret that Tara's magical abilities extended to the kitchen. Tara made the best breakfast ever. In fact, Willow thought Tara made the best **food** ever, period. They often joked about opening up a restaurant, but Tara always said that she preferred cooking for loved ones. Which definitely wasn't a problem for Willow. "Funny shapes?" She asked Tara.

"Oh, I was just thinking we could pop some bagels in the toaster." Tara dead-panned, unable to keep a straight face at the sight of Willow's devastated expression. She broke out into laughter. "Just kidding. Wow, I never realized how serious you are about breakfast." She gave Willow a quick kiss on the cheek. "Funny shapes it is, my love." She smiled brightly, pulling her robe off the hook and onto her shoulders. Willow walked up behind her, circling her arms around Tara to tie her robe. The only problem was, she couldn't quite get the thing into a any semblance of a knot. After a few seconds, she gave up. "Still early for ya?" Tara said, gently taking the tie from Willow's hands, tying a loose knot.

"I was trying to be cute and romantic." Willow said, a bit dejected.

"Sweetie, you never have to _try_." Tara winked over her shoulder. "You just _are_."

Willow couldn't help herself. She tackled Tara onto the bed, straddling her. She leaned down to kiss Tara, reveling in the soft feel of her full lips.

Tara pulled away gently after a few long moments. "What about breakfast?"

Willow gestured towards the door, locking it with a twisting motion of her hand. "Breakfast can wait." She said, fixing Tara with a sultry gaze.

Tara bit her lip. "Vixen."


End file.
